Duayne Howard

I got my first "real" drum kit for high school graduation when I was 18; a 5-piece Pearl Export kit, which I built into a 10-piece monster kit (MANY thanks to Mom & Sis). About a year after I got it, I thought I was confident enough to audition for some local bands and finally get myself out there. In 1986, I auditioned for a local band named ALIBI (featuring the late Jeff Lenhart from XPELD--I met Andy Scher [bassist] shortly thereafter that same year). I was crushed when Jeff told me my double-bass was "kinda weak", so I locked myself in my room with my drums for about the next two years and "studied" with the Masters (of my time, anyway): Vinny Appice, Scott Rockenfield, Neil Peart, Munetaka Higuchi, Tommy Aldridge, so on and so on). Eventually, I found myself in a band with some former school mates, then graduated onto other projects around the L.A. waste bin.

1989: After having played with female Metal guitarists Debbie Wolf (LEATHER ANGEL, OBSESSION) and Yngwie-style shredder Leslie Townsend, I became the drummer for BLOODSHOT, which at that time consisted of Josh S. Kushner (vox/guitar) and Rik Kopko (bass/backing vox). I only ended up playing two shows with that band--one at The Roxy in December 1989, then at Gazzari's in January 1990. Financial challenges stood in the way of me continuing with the band, and I was again on the hunt for someone to play with. Only recently, I learned that Rik had passed away a little while back. May you rest in peace, Comrade...

1990-92: Again, back with some friends from high school for a brief stint. Sadly, thanks to others' appreciation for substance abuse, nothing ever came of that effort.

1992-95: Became the new drummer for Santa Fe-based Metal band PROWLER , which was Cedric Griego (guitars), Steve Montoya (vox, currently with SAVAGE WIZDOM ) and we later found an awesome Southpaw shredder named James Jones (currently with SEVERMIND ). Peculiarly, no bassists ever answered any of the ads. We ended up enlisting a friend of the band, Jason Partridge, for the slot. It was during this time that a friend of Steve & Cedric’s from Santa Fe ( LOU MICHAELS ) had come by the studio one night and introduced us to a real down-to-earth kinda guy who immediately made you feel as if you had known each other a lifetime. His name was KEN STEIGER and he had just graduated from Musician’s Institute in Hollywood with top honors. He jammed with us for a few minutes, and we were just in awe that someone this talented was so altruistic by nature. We sparsely kept touch over the years, mostly by Cedric taking me to Steiger’s gigs; we’d also end up kicking it at Steiger’s place every now and then over the years.

It must be something about Santa Fe, because we also had BONE ANGEL rehearsing in our studio for about two months somewhere around 1992/1993: Frank Starr (Four Horsemen) on vocals, guitarist John Lowery (who went on to Rob Halford’s “Two”), bassist Terry Goodman, and Randy Castillo on drums. See, Steve Montoya had also known Randy back in Santa Fe somehow. In fact, at one point they all had me thinking that everybody was from Santa Fe, and that I was the only California boy in town! Castillo’s roadie ended up bestowing me with a Platinum Hi-Hat and a used 16” Rock Crash that he said Randy never used anymore anyhow. How cool is that? God be with you, Randy!

After all that time, we only ended up playing one gig, at Mancini's in The Valley. Cedric, Steve and I tried to keep the band going when James returned home to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Eventually, personal situations led to Montoya's resignation, and the dream was ultimately lost. Cedric and I continued recording, and remain the best of friends to this day. I am currently assisting him with his screenwriting efforts.

1996-1997: One of the most professional outfits I ever played with. WORLD AFFAIRS was a sort of European Arena Rock type of band, with Jay Neyens on vocals, Tony TerBorg ..s, Tommy Rask on bass and Scott Ramsey (currently with RAYZING SONS ) commanding the guitar. Just when things seemed as if they were finally going to pan out with deals, shows, albums, et cetera, repressed issues among some of the original members surfaced, and WA was snuffed out for good.

{Beginning to see a pattern here...?}

1999: I was accepted in to AnGeR MgT. , led by Jackie Green on guitar (formerly of D-Day) and Brad Jones on bass. We found a vocalist named Nedd Blakk, but he eventually lost his Visa status (from Australia) and had to go home. I departed the band in late 2000, and rejoined them for an opening slot for Flotsam & Jetsam at Paladino's in March of 2001. Jackie and I remain good, good friends today...

At that time, not long after that show, I found myself in a position whereby I needed to sell my (then) second kit, a beautiful white 8-piece Pearl Export kit. I was also diagnosed with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome at an urgent care clinic. It became apparent to me that I had to "accept" the fact that I could no longer play drums, since it hurt to hold the sticks for more than five minutes before my arms went numb from my fingers to my shoulders.

Rest assured, I would not go quietly...

Since I had been toying with the idea of finally playing rhythm and lead guitar in a live band, I had to be sure my fretboard skills were up to minimum par. I have been playing with the guitar since I was about nine, when I made off with my sister's acoustic guitar. She never played it, anyway. I got a cheap Orlando strat copy for my 12th birthday, took four lessons and determined that I couldn't read a lick of music. Not sightreading, anyhow. So, I learned from those around me. "Wow! That's how you do that!" or, "Hey, how do you do this...?" Same with the bass, which I picked up at 16 with a cheap copy I bought across the street for 60 bucks; and it only had the E, A and D strings! If it rocked, I wanted to play it.

So, the idea had been on my mind for a couple years, then I thought of something my dear friend Cedric once told me:

SHUT UP AND DO IT...

2003: My cousin Steve Gravino & I were kicking it in my garage one day, when I threw out the idea of starting a band of my own (this time playing guitar), and DEAD PLANET was born. It began with an ad in Music Connection, where I met the original guitarist, then our AWESOME singer (Dean Naston), then finally our original bassist Renee Louise (currently w/ HEAVENLY LED , QUAIL STUDIOS ). We played in my garage and learned some old songs I had lying around, wrote a couple new ones, and began booking rehearsal studios after a couple of months. Eventually, all the standard band drama ensued and things began changing. Steve G. had to leave the band, and was eventually replaced by Steven Peer—only after going through a few other drummers before him who just couldn’t capture the Melodic/Arena Rock feel of the material. Sharing a similar intense passion and appreciation for Dream Theater (and for Prog Rock in general), Peer seemed the man for the job. Down the road, certain circumstances evolved-- a sort of he said/she said kind of thing-- and Renee decided to pursue a different direction. There we were: me, Dean & Steven, looking for people to help resurrect the Planet. I got in touch with Dave Angel (my other brother from another mother since 7th grade, also currently the bassist at my side in PROJECT STEIGER ), who brought with him a bassist named Scott Walters. The two gave DP the edge it needed. We ended up playing only three live shows after all was said and done, all at Paladino's in TARZANA (not Reseda) thanks to the generosity of promoter Jimmy D who said he liked what he heard and gave us a fair shot. It probably didn’t hurt that I have known Andy from XPELD for over 20 years. Then, several weeks after our third show, the shows weren't coming. We had a lot of idle time on our hands and basically mismanaged it. By the time we decided we were ready to go into the studio, we had no drummer since Steven had left the fold by this time. So, Scott Karr (original XPELD drummer) graciously allowed me to borrow his kit since he was well aware that I knew what I was doing. We recorded the demo, but things really began to deteriorate by the time we went to mix and master it; funds were tight at best, attitudes flared, egos exploded and frustration reigned supreme. Sadly, I had to face the fact that DP could no longer stay on life support, and “pulled the plug” in early 2006.

2006: During the DP days, Dave had managed to convince me to sign up for a MySpace account to meet women, since we were both basically “available” at that time. It wasn’t long before I ended up stumbling upon my old friend Ken Steiger here at MySpace, just browsing for people I knew in general. When I told my friend Cedric that we had connected here, he mentioned that Ken had told him that he was looking for a drummer. So, naturally, I wrote Steiger back something like, “Hey... why didn’t you tell me you were looking for a drummer?!” See, Ken remembered that I was playing guitar, and had actually come to one of my shows. When I told him how Dave had purchased a drum set for people to audition with while we were trying to replace our Dead Planet drummer, and that I had decided to buy it off of Dave and they were now mine... Well, my 5 ½-year drumming hiatus was about to end...

June 2006—Steiger books a gig, my first gig with him, at The Hollywood Passage at Hollywood/McCadden. I had about 10 days to learn the material. Like he told me then, “There’s no better motivator than a live show!” How right he was, because—well, basically... I nailed it! I will always refer to that as my “public audition”! Todd Graveman was already with the project at that time, and still is today, but there was no bassist. After a few months rehearsing with Ken & Todd, and babbling to my good friend Dave Angel about what was going on, he immediately asked if he could check out the situation. Need I say more? Today, the four of us continue playing shows, although not very often, and we continue writing and recording together. Currently, we are entering the studio to work on the next Project Steiger offering...

July 2007: Jeff Lenhart, guitarist/vocalist for XPELD , approaches me with an offer to play with him and Andy, and they have a show coming up in about 10 days. Finally, I’m able to play with my once long-lost comrade Andy once again for the first time since 1988. Magically, it seemed as if that was the same Andy standing over there ripping on that bass almost 20 years before; we hadn’t lost a beat. Through my affiliation with XPELD, I was able to meet such recognizable musicians as Vinny Appice, Jimmy Bain, Phil Soussan, Carlos Cavazo and Chris Holmes, just to name a few.

After just two rehearsals, things were finally beginning to get tight. Sadly, it would only be barely two months—with only three live performances under our belts together—that XPELD would be silenced forever. During our performance at Paladino’s on September 28, 2007, Jeff retreated to the dressing room after shouting, “Duayne... Solo!” and was found dead on the floor only moments later from what was determined to be a massive heart attack due to congestive heart failure. We never finished that set... God bless you, too, Jeff!